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Jan 06, 2008

Gen Y Pushing Boomers Aside

'It was basically all the students caucusing for Obama and the adults dispersing among the other candidates.' In the end, in his Iowa City precinct, the students sat victorious at the Obama camp with 70% of the votes.... This is a metaphor for the workplace.... Baby boomers are being forced out, in a non-disruptive way.
-- Brazen Careerist

I want to see that Boomer who is being "forced out". Not a Willie Loman who is old before his time but someone like Ryan Healy's dad. Ryan seems to take his poppy's offhand remarks as gospel truth so why -- and how -- would he push him aside?

In the 1960s, after the arrival of the Beatles, the "freedom-loving" young generation seemed to be pushing everyone else aside. A lousy movie, Wild In The Streets was about young people taking over the government and the slogan, "Don't trust anyone over 30." was, supposedly, a touchstone of the rising counter-culture.

Now these same people are being maligned by Gen Y boosters as misguided workaholics and primitive tyrants who have to be pushed aside themselves. Odd, isn't it? Here's my hunch. Young people can take over in a consumer-oriented business like music in which the performers and the market are dominated by young people.

They can even have an effect on an election in which anyone over 18 is allowed to pick the CEO. But, in business and the professions, they can only shove people aside if they have more know-how than anyone else. That can happen in two ways.

First when the individual, not the generation, is especially talented. Second, when what happened yesterday doesn't count. And how often is that the case?

Regarding the election. In Canada, Gen Y’s are known for not voting. It doesn’t matter which party you vote for, they say, they’re all the same. Isn't it the same in the USA? Obama is a bit different so he might bring out some younger voters but so what? Will they decide the election if the Boomers don't come along? Think about it. Wasn’t McGovern a young people’s candidate in '72? And, didn’t all but one state go to Nixon?